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Abstract

Diblock copolymers blended with homopolymer may self-assemble into spherical, cylindrical, or lamellar aggregates. Transitions between these structures may be driven by varying the homopolymer diblock molecular weight or composition. Using self-consistent field theory (SCFT), we reproduce these effects. Our results are compared to x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy measurements by Kinning et al. and good agreement is found, although the tendency to form cylindrical and lamellar structures is sometimes overestimated due to our neglect of edge effects due to the finite size of these aggregates. Our results demonstrate that SCFT can provide detailed information on the self-assembly of isolated block copolymer aggregates.

Copyright 2009 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Greenall, M.J. and Buzza, D.M.A. and McLeish, T.C.B. (2009) 'Micelle shape transitions in block copolymer/homopolymer blends : comparison of self-consistent field theory with experiment.', Journal of chemical physics., 131 (3). 034904 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3170938